I'm an attorney practicing in the area of international law focusing on immigration. I am a member of the bars of New York and California in the United States and Ontario and British Columbia in Canada. A former United Nations correspondent who was stationed in New York, I am also a published author. I now practice law from offices in Toronto and Los Angeles.

The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Want To Immigrate To The U.S.A.? Open A Business With The E-2 Visa

In my line of work, you often get people who are looking for a better, safer life for themselves and their family. The phone often rings when things get bad.

In this case, an Egyptian man – I’ll call him Sameh – telephoned around the time of the Egyptian Revolution and asked how he and his family could immigrate to the United States. He loved Egypt, but he told me he’d had enough of the violence and political uncertainty. He wanted out fast.

Immigrating to the U.S.A. isn’t always easy, but there are certain things that can quickly clear the way. One is being a member of a country that has an investment treaty with the United States. Another is if a person can show that they have run a sound business in the past, and will be able to run a sound business in the U.S.A.

Sameh had both of these bases covered. He was from Egypt – a treaty country – and he had a successful car-related facility in Cairo. He now wanted to start a new car-related business in the United States. I thought he would be a good candidate for an E-2 visa.

I presented him with the pros and cons of the E-2.

Pros:

Quick processing times – a few months

Investment – perhaps $200,000 U.S.

Control of funds – no “due diligence” required

Travel flexibility – less concern about maintaining a domicile

Immediate permission to work in the USA. Spouse can work anywhere

Children can go to school/college at internal resident rates

Low legal cost – roughly $10,000 – $20,000

Possible tax advantages – as a nonimmigrant resident

Less paperwork- more flexible treatment of investor on compliance with rules

Cons:

Must work – passive investment not enough. Therefore, must speak at least some English

The immigrant investor’s U.S. presence is tied to the business. You are here because the business is here

Must renew the visa every 3 – 5 years

No clear route to green card/U.S. citizenship

Completely dependent on business success. Business folds? Good-bye

We then considered the requirements of the visa. You can read the requirements in detail here, but generally speaking, the U.S. government wants to make sure that you have the funds to run a business and that your business is going to make more money than it takes to just pay the rent. You have to be in control of the funds and the business must make a positive economic impact on the United States.

While the numbers aren’t written in stone, the threshold for getting an E-2 visa is about $200,000. That is when they start taking your application seriously. There are those who want to invest only around $50,000 and get the visa. That rarely flies.

Some additional considerations that the consulate makes when deciding if an application has merit is if the business investment will be big enough (think millions of dollar), whether the business will create at least a few jobs in the U.S., and if the business is innovative and may bring something new or invigorating to the U.S., like a blossoming Google, for example.

In Sameh’s case, we applied by taking the following steps:

Incorporating a U.S. company

Establishing a presence in the U.S. (office)

Opening a corporate bank account

Registering with the I.R.S. for income tax purposes

Preparing a business plan

Investing $200,000 in the company bank account

Obtaining letters of reference for Sameh

Result in the Egyptian Case

Sameh was successful in his application. He received a five-year E-2 work visa. His wife also received an E-2 visa entitling her to obtain an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) so she could work anywhere in the United States in whatever occupation she chose. The visas were renewable as long as Sameh’s business existed in the U.S.A.

Sameh and his wife now live in one of the southern states, where they continue to enjoy a happy life with a successful business.

Andy J. Semotiuk is a U.S. and Canadian immigration lawyer with offices in Toronto and Los Angeles. He is a published author and a former UN correspondent. Learn more at My Work Visa.

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